Monday, May 17, 2010

5/17

Well..in spite of an amazing zone conference..this week has probably..actually most definitely been the most boring week of my mission life!! So my companion was born with some crazy condition that totally messes with his lower body..like he was born with only 4 toes on his right foot..and his left leg is longer than his right! So when he was in middle school, he had his growth plates removed from out of his left knee to allow his other leg to catch up..but now it's giving him lots and lots of problems!! His knee is really swollen and over the course of a week..the swelling has gone all the way down to his ankle! He can't walk without crutches now, and we've been inside for the majority of the week resting it! His leg is constantly in throbbing pain and he can't ride a bike..it hurts for him to even walk with crutches so it's making the work a little more difficult..haha..The spanish missionaries have been going out with me ever once in a while throughout the week, just so i can get out of the house..but i just spoke with the mission president this morning and he said that he doesn't want us doing that anymore because it impedes the spanish work, which is definitely understandable. But we're finally going to be able to go to the doctor tomorrow..we've been waiting for his parents to send some insurance information and apparently it's taken a little longer than it should have because his parents haven't quite fully understood the seriousness of the problem..haha..i think the saddest thing though..is that i'm still not all the way caught up in my journal. =( BUT..in spite of the adversary's attempts to slow us down..we were still able to somewhat get around this week and we were able to set a baptismal date with one of our investigators named Adam Guillen. His date is for June 12th, but that might get bumped back a little further because he might not be able to make it to church this week. So Adam is from Beliz..a country that is umm..south of texas? haha..i'm not sure if its in north or south america..but i do know that english is the first language there so he speaks it really well! in fact he doesn't even know how to read spanish! But he's really humble and sincerely wants change in his life and wanted to be baptized..so we're going to be working for him and hopefully things will pan out! His date is really there to get him..and us..to exercise faith, so we're excited for it!

Well i'm really hoping we'll be able to go out a little more this week, than we were last week..people seem really receptive when they see Elder Petersen gimping up to their door on his crutches! =) haha.. But yeah..i'm really excited to be with Elder Petersen..he's really great and has a great spirit..and it's killing him being down like this. That just goes to show how important this message is. Something we've really been talking about lately that has really hit home to me is that we are not out here to get people to join "the true church." We are out here to baptize people, because this church just so happens to be the only one with the authority to do that. It's always funny to me when people say that they don't agree with "mormon doctrine." People just don't understand that "mormon doctrine" is the same thing as the doctrine of Christ..which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. That is the only path that leads to eternal life, everything else is "just an appendage" to the doctrine. Yeah..i've learned a TON recently!! =) Well..it's amazing how fast time flies..this time next year i'll be home..funny thing is..i still have no idea what's going to happen when that day comes..and it's still too scary to even think about..so i won't think about it! =) i love/miss y'all! I hope y'all are doin well! Talk to y'all next week!